I Peter 5:1-4 Good Leaders

Transcription

1 I Peter 5:1-4 Good Leaders

2 In a time when power is abused in the world When powerful people can do anything as long as the company is running well The leaders of the church are to act differently

3 Peter sets the tone by being an equal with the elders Peter addresses the leaders of the church at the end of this letter He was the leader of the 12 apostles of Jesus He could have used his authority as an apostle

4 If you know Jesus as your Savior, you get the same salvation that Peter received And so Peter at the same level as all of us gives us the qualities of a good Christian leader

5 I. Be a Shepherd Vs. 2

6 Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my shepherd God is the one who takes care of me God provides for my needs God also leads me through some dark valleys

7 Jesus called himself the good shepherd That he the shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep. Jesus was talking about going to the cross He knew his sheep and his sheep knew him

8 My uncle had cows and as a child I enjoyed going to the farm and helping take care of the cows. In the summer, the cows would be out in the fields eating grass

9 Sheep need someone to guide them And so the Bible says, we all like sheep have gone astray We need a shepherd to guide us There are wolves in this world that teach false ideas

10 And so the Christian leader-shepherd teaches the Bible Guides us in the truth so we don t get lead astray

11 II. Willingly Serve Vs. 2

12 Whenever you read that Jesus had compassion, he did something about it Jesus fed the people who were hungry He healed the people who were sick He served the people

13 The church should be an atmosphere of service Where needy people have their needs met Where people who are sick are taken care of

14 III. Not Greedy for Money Vs. 3

15 Greed is never good, it is wanting more and more Contentment with what you have is good Yes, we need money to do ministry But there must be good accounting and accountability

16 IV. Not lording it over people Vs. 4

17 This is a boss that makes people stay late And you do his work so he can do something else The boss that uses people rather than working with them

18 Examples of shepherding, not greedy for money And serving Jesus said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many

19 Tend the flock of God in your midst, [overseeing] not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly cuiden como pastores el rebaño de Dios que está a su cargo, no por obligación ni por ambición de dinero, sino con afán de servir, como Dios quiere lichungeni kundi la Mungu lililo kwenu, na kulisimamia, si kwa kulazimishwa, bali kwa hiari kama Mungu atakavyo; si kwa kutaka fedha ya aibu, bali kwa moyo 你们应当牧养你们中间神的羊群, 要按神的意思照顾他们, 不是出于勉强, 而是出于甘心 ; 也不是出于贪财, 而是出于乐意 Құдайдың өздеріңе сеніп тапсырған рухани «отарын» (яғни қауымын) қамқорлап бағыңдар! Мұны лажсыздан емес, шын көңілден, Құдайдың еркіне сай орындаңдар. Оны ашкөз пайдақорлықпен де емес, адал ынта-жігермен істеңдер Ẹ máa tọ jú agbo Ọlọ run tí ń bẹ láàrin yín, ẹ máa bojútó o, kì í ṣe àfipáṣe, bí kò ṣe tìfẹ tìfẹ ; kó má sì jẹ fún èrè ìjẹkújẹ, bí kò ṣe pẹ lú ìpinnu tí ó múra tan

20 I Peter 5:1-4 Good Leaders In a time when power is abused in the world When people use their power to get what they want When powerful people can do anything as long as the company is running well The leaders of the church are to act differently But sadly, there are some that think the church can be run like a business And so there are abuses of power Peter sets the tone by being an equal with the elders Peter addresses the leaders of the church at the end of this letter He was the leader of the 12 apostles of Jesus He could have used his authority as an apostle But he doesn t. Instead he writes them as a fellow elder And Peter s qualifications for giving them this teaching He witnessed Jesus suffering Peter was with Jesus during his 3 year ministry He saw the religious leaders mock and argue with Jesus And Peter was around when Jesus suffered on the cross There was no written account that Peter was there at the cross But he knew what happened and saw Jesus after the resurrection Peter shared the same salvation that the leaders had The thing about going to heaven as a Christian Everyone gets the same salvation There aren t different levels of heaven for better Christians If you know Jesus as your Savior, you get the same salvation that Peter received And so Peter at the same level as all of us gives us the qualities of a good Christian leader I. Be a Shepherd Vs. 2 The Bible uses the shepherd-sheep idea in many places Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my shepherd God is the one who takes care of me God provides for my needs God also leads me through some dark valleys And even though the valleys of life are bad, God is always there, God is ever present with me The religious leaders were shepherds in the Old Testament But they didn t always do a good job Many times they abused their power and took advantage of the people Taking too much and not giving enough Jesus called himself the good shepherd That he the shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep Jesus was talking about going to the cross He knew his sheep and his sheep knew him There is a relationship between the sheep and shepherd I didn t know any shepherds but I did know a cow herder My uncle had cows and as a child I enjoyed going to the farm and helping take care of the cows. In the summer, the cows would be out in the fields eating grass and it would be time for the evening milking. My uncle would call out, Here boss, Here boss Don t know why he said that The cows would come running to the barn I would try calling to the cows but they wouldn t come They didn t know my voice The shepherd sheep idea was very familiar to people They saw is regularly in the countryside The sheep needed the shepherd Sheep are helpless alone, sheep need a protector Wolves can easily take a sheep down And sheep aren t the smartest animals Sheep need someone to guide them And so the Bible says, we all like sheep have gone astray We need a shepherd to guide us There are wolves in this world that teach false ideas Wolves that would like to devour you And so the Christian leader-shepherd teaches the Bible

21 Guides us in the truth so we don t get lead astray I am thankful that there are many shepherds at ICC Men and women that know the truth of God s Word And the Elders at ICC are trustworthy Steve, Kevin and Jim are the elected Elders Jesus is our #1 Shepherd He taught the truth and his teaching guides us away from false teachers today And Jesus also served the people II. Willingly Serve Vs. 2 When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John You see a Jesus that had compassion on the people Whenever you read that Jesus had compassion, he did something about it Jesus fed the people who were hungry He healed the people who were sick He served the people And he is an example for us You can call it compassion or love It is a feeling that we have deep within And it is a feeling that Jesus acted upon Empathy would be just a feeling, I feel bad for them But you don t do anything about it The church should be an atmosphere of service Where needy people have their needs met Where people who are sick are taken care of And we don t do it because we have to Not because you must do it, I have to help But because you are willing and want to help Who can you serve this week? III. Not Greedy for Money Vs. 3 Why is money always a problem? When some people gets into power, they want money We can see this with TV preachers They are asking for money and then God will bless you 10x Of course you have to give the money first to see if it works And then they will blame you if you don t get the 10X blessing You didn t have enough faith Greed is never good, it is wanting more and more Contentment with what you have is good There are many examples of the abuse of money and ministry Yes, we need money to do ministry But there must be good accounting and accountability IV. Not lording it over people Vs. 4 To lord it over someone means that you are abusing your power This is a boss that makes people stay late And you do his work so he can do something else The boss that uses people rather than working with them People become workers to accomplish your work When the church starts using a business model it loses the meaning of being a church As a church leader, you all have been entrusted to me That means God has brought you here And God wants us to work together as a church I don t want to forget that idea And I want to be sensitive to where you are in life I want to know what you can do and what you have energy to do I don t want to put on you more than you can handle But may I and the Elders of ICC be examples Examples of shepherding, not greedy for money And serving Jesus said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many That s an example And as Christian leaders lead there will be a reward When the chief shepherd appears-that s Jesus We are reminded that Jesus is the shepherd He served and gave his life for us He will give a crown of glory that won t fade That s eternal